


The Mystery of the Horrifying House

by jolly_love



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Draco Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Partners, Auror Ron Weasley, Auror Theodore Nott, Bisexual Harry Potter, Bisexual Ron Weasley, Gay Draco Malfoy, Good Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter & Ron Weasley Friendship, Investigations, M/M, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Mystery, POV Harry Potter, Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29615013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolly_love/pseuds/jolly_love
Summary: The house on the lake had always been a mystery to everyone. Aurors had tried to investigate it during the war (when they still had the free will power to do so), thinking it was a hide-out for Voldemort, but it never seemed to open for anyone. And now, finally having enough of the mystery, the very new Aurors Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Theodore Nott und Draco Malfoy have been sent out to check it out. It definitely wasn’t a sort of bonding experience for the Aurors with the worst chemistry… that they had enough of even if they didn’t realize it yet.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Theodore Nott/Ron Weasley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. The Dandelion Domicile

**Author's Note:**

> I miss writing FanFic, so I have decided instead of giving you huge stories, I will post a few smaller once (though is isn't really small, just nos as big as some of my stories). With this one I want to create a scenery, which I hope you like as well :)

Harry Potter checked his watch, before he stopped. And while he stood there, watching the small second hand racing around the never ending path, he realized that once again for the second time in one week, he was late.

Charging through the white and black halls of the Ministry, he slithered around the corner only to collide head first with another Auror, throwing papers everywhere and landing on top of him. At least he had an easy landing.

“I… I’m… I’m so sorry!” Harry stuttered only to realize who he was laying on. Draco Malfoy. _Shit._

The blond wizard rolled his eyes, pushed him to the floor and got up himself. There were still parchments and papers flying through the air, which Malfoy without using his wand brought back to one neat pile. He turned to Harry and raised his eyebrows, judgingly. 

“Late again, Potter. I you keep this up, you might end up being the fastest new Auror to be fired.”

Harry huffed and wordlessly got up. He didn’t need to say anything to this idiot, especially with what he had been going through the last few days. However, Malfoy was correct. He really needed to get his tardiness under control. Turning around, he jogged around the corner, even though he heard Malfoy calling something after him. Whatever he had wanted to say, it could wait.

In the huge Auror office, the sheer noice of people talking and discussing files made Harry wince. He bit his lips, angry about a reaction he should have under controll by now and shook his head. He tried to sneak towards his small cubicle, however, he was soon found by Ronald Weasley, sporting a rather huge black eye.

“Hey mate, where were you? We had a meeting with Kingsley first thing today.” Ron tilted his head and shook a strain of hair out of his face that seemed to bother him.

Harry shook his head and couldn’t contain a smirk creeping to his face. “Ron? What happened to you? Never mind my constant Paparazzi problem. Why do you have a black eye?”

Sighing, Ron rubbed the back of his head and bit his lips. He looked sheepishly and finally shrugged his shoulders. “Well yeah, Nott’s been a pain in my arse and he said how easy it was for ‘Mione to get over our relationship. I think he hates me.”

“Sure he does, mate” Harry smirked. 

Even if Ron had been able to see his sarcasm, he didn’t comment on it. Throwing his bag into his hands and pushing him to the exit, Ron finally filled him in on what was going to happen now. “Let me get you up to speed – we have a mission as the youngest Aurors. And also probably to get to work with others.” He sighed. Harry shook his head and was just about to ask, when they walked out of the huge Auror department, just to find Theodore Nott standing there.

“Hello fellow Aurors” he said smirking. “Welcome to our first solo gig.”

“Very funny, Nott” Ron hissed and rolled his eyes again.

Harry narrowed his eyes and looked from his best friend to the Slytherin Auror. These two had been in an unfriendly discussion ever since they first started and no matter what topic Harry tried to discuss with Ron, it always ended up surrounding the Slytherin. It wasn’t really hard to see through these signs. At least not for him.

“Oh, I’m not kidding, Weasel!” Nott shrugged his shoulders with a smirk on his lips.

Before this could escalate and Ron would end up with two black eyes and no way to see for a few days, Harry decided to stop these two fighting men. “So, what is our first solo gig then, Nott? I happen to be a little late and haven’t gotten the needed information.”

Nott nodded and smirked. “The house by the lake. Aurors have been trying to get inside and find out what’s inside for a few centuries by now, but nobody seemed to have success with it. So for some very unknown reason, they tasked us four with the mission of getting inside and figuring out what it is and whose it is. And also, if it is in fact harmful, to eliminate it.”

Harry frowned. “Us four?”

“Exactly, Potter.” Another voice made Harry sigh. He didn’t even need to turn around to see who was standing next to Ron. Malfoy stepped next to Nott and looked at the two Gryffindors. “Apparently, Kingsley wants to unite his Aurors and we have been a thorn in his side – so, he chose a mission for us that first of all isn’t supposed to be dangerous, and secondly could bring us potentially together, should anything happen.”

“So, you’re saying, Kingsley hopes something bad is going to happen?” Harry sighed again. “Marvelous.”

Nott shrugged his shoulders and they silently walked to the Apparating Chamber, everyone with their bag and probably a silent wish that this mission was going to be over as soon as possible. At the AC, the four Aurors showed their badge and were led into a black room. Once everyone was inside and the ddoor firmly shut, the magical flow surrounded all of them and they were sucked up as if they had been standing in front of a vacuum cleaner.

Landing rather hard on the ground, Harry rolled to the side and luckily escaped the probability of cracking his foot. He really needed to get used to the Ministry way of things. Getting up, he saw that all of his companions had found their own way of eliminating these problems. Though everyone was lying on the foor.

So, he turned to the scenery in front of them. They were surrounded by forest and with the singing birds and the deep blue sky; this early spring day seemed to be the most perfect one yet. Nott held out a compass and motioned towards the place they needed to check out. And so, they followed Nott’s lead through the quiet forest. The cracking branches under their feet were probably scaring away all wild animals and within a few minutes they had safely reached the end of the woods.

As if the landscape had wanted to show Harry that what he had seen wasn’t gorgeous enough, he saw the most stunning scenery ever. The green grass looked almost juicy and the dark blue lake reached towards the sky at the horizon. There were birds flying at the sky, fishes swam around the center of the lake and there, close to the lake, with a sandy beach almost at the front yard, sat a dandelion yellowy house. Its two stories looked so innocent and the chimney on top seemed to have its own secrets –since magical houses barely had normal working fireplaces.

Nott and Malfoy had almost made it half way when Harry finally started walking. Something here seemed so familiar, yet unknown. He wasn’t sure if he should warn his fellow Aurors, though it seemed ridiculous to warn them of a _feeling_. They hadn’t gone through the same thing Ron, Hermione and he had. And even though Hermione had her own problems right now and told them, that after the messy break-up she and Ron had, she didn’t want to see the two of them right now, Harry still received and wrote her letters. Ron would have probably listened to his weird feelings, but he didn’t want to involve him as well. And so, by the time he had reached the door, Nott and Malfoy were already trying to enter with force and all kinds of magic.

Ron frowned at them and chuckled. “Don’t you think that other Aurors might have tried it like that before?”

“Okay, Weasel, if you’re so smart, go try it yourself!” Nott glared at him and Ron smugly pulled out his wand. Harry rolled his eyes, already somehow knowing that this wouldn’t work.

He turned away and walked around the corner to the boarded up windows, hoping he could get a small glance into the house. As luck would have it, he was actually able to spot a board that was only half closing the window. And so he looked through it and found an almost empty looking living room. The yellow couch had probably once been white and the table and chairs had so much dust on them, that it was impossible to see what color they were. A huge picture of a small looking ship was hanging on the opposite wall, with two men standing on board, waving. It seemed to be a magical picture, since they were actually moving.

Harry chuckled and turned to check where Ron was at, just to find Malfoy there. Jumping slightly, Harry held his chest.

“You scared me!”

“What are you trying to do here?” Malfoy asked and pointed at the boarded up window. Harry frowned. A second ago, he could have sworn that there was a gap between the boards so he could see inside.

If he were to tell him what he had seen, the Slytherin would surely call him an idiot, since he couldn’t really have seen the inside of the house. “I was trying to see if we could find a place to get in – except for the door.”

“Apparently, Aurors have tried everything. Including getting in through the chimney, but it seems to be protected by a magical force field” Malfoy explained and waved him back to the front, where Ron was on his knees trying to force the door open with a Ministry level entry spell through the lock.

It still wasn’t working. Next to him, Nott was leaning against the house, his wand between his teeth, looking out onto the lake.

Finally, Ron sighed, sat down exhausted and leaned against the house as well. “It’s hopeless.”

“Do you always give up so easily, Weasel?” Nott asked and shook his head, catching the wand which was falling down.

Ron glared at him and got up. “No, but you gave up even quicker!”

“Whatever, Freckleface. You needed to prove you’re still the man, so I let you.” Nott turned his wand in his hand as if he was inspecting it from every angle and whatever he had said was just a secondary idea.

Before this could get any more out of hand, Harry interrupted these two angry idiots. “Look, the door is locked; maybe we can find something on the outside. I know a lot of Aurors might have already tried this, but we’re new ones, with new eyes on the subject. Maybe we’ll find something they haven’t seen.”

Ron got up and basically stormed around the house. Nott sighed and got down the two front steps as well, grabbing a piece of parchment and writing down everything he could see. Harry sighed and shook his head. He leaned at the pillar and looked up.

Malfoy stepped next to him and took out his own wand as well. “You’re really good at de-escalating whatever these two are doing right now.” He kneeled in front of the door as well, pointing his wand at the lock.

“Yeah, well. Ron always thinks people believe he’s stupid. And for some reason Nott seems to know exactly which buttons to push that turns him wild.” It reminded him slightly of Ron and Hermione during their years of friendship and secret love. And well, at the end there, where both of them were just drifting apart, they knew exactly what to do to make the other angry. That wasn’t healthy anymore.

Sometimes, splitting up was the best thing to do. At least now they could slowly grow closer as friends again, because Harry knew that they never really lost touch, it was just too much with all the Paparazzi and attention in them.

Malfoy nodded as if he had been in his own thoughts as well. “Theodore’s got this talent. He could drive me to madness as well.” His wand made an unhealthy noise and Malfoy stopped whatever magic he had tried to use and looked up at Harry. “I’m actually surprised he hasn’t driven you wild.”

“What, with words?” Harry chuckled. “That only ever seemed to work for you, Malfoy. And I did visit a mind healer for the last year of Auror training, so I hope I won’t kill you during this mission if you start attacking me with words again.”

“I can’t promise anything” Malfoy smirked and turned back to the door.

Harry laughed. “Well, then I also can’t promise anything.” He turned around and looked at the beach, where the waves were softly breaking. The sound of water had always had a rather calming effect on him. As he turned around he felt Malfoy’s eyes on him and he smirked. “I’ll go check up on these two idiots, in hopes that they haven’t killed each other.”

Malfoy sighed. “You do that, I’ll continue to try and get inside.”

Walking around the other side of the building, Harry found Nott inspecting a hole in the wall. It seemed to be magical, as he couldn’t get through it and you couldn’t look through.

“This place creeps me out” Nott said as he realized Harry standing next to him. He once again tried to push his arm through the black hole and it stopped him from doing that.

Harry frowned. “Have you maybe tried it with an object first, Nott? It’s better to lose a piece of paper than your whole arm, because you tried to shove it into a dark, mysterious hole.”

Nott rolled his eyes. “I have tried it with a stone, yes. And the stone went through.”

“What?”

That seemed very weird. Maybe it was because the stone wasn’t a living object and Nott’s arm belonged to a person? But why could a stone get through a magical force field and an arm couldn’t? Harry took out his own wand.

“Orbis Luminis” he whispered and an orb of pure light started glowing and floated towards the black, mysterious hole. Nott groaned frustrated, as if he hadn’t even thought of that. It passed the invisible wall and the house seemed to shiver as it did. The orb of light illuminated the inside of the giant gaping hole at the side of the house. Inside the hole was a small room that seemed to be in chaos. Parchments were lying on the floor, tables were unturned, the old arm chairs were having tears and the stuffing of pillows lay everywhere.

“Looks like someone had a fight in here” Nott commented and frowned.

“Yeah, but how long ago was this fight? And why hasn’t anyone been in here to fix it?” Harry asked aloud. The orb just floated in the middle of the room, while Harry kept looking around.

It seemed to be an office. Maps of the old were hanging at the walls, old books were inside the shelves, even though most of them lay destroyed on the floor. Even an old Muggle record player and some records were standing in neat piles in the corner.

Harry knew for a fact that this place had once been a home for wizards – maybe they were hunted and killed because they had some Muggle artifacts. Though who knew if by that time these things even were artifacts.

The orb lost its light and died down, when Ron walked around the corner. “Did you find something and not tell me?” he asked with wide eyes.

“You need to be faster, Weasel!” Nott said and sighed frustrated, though Harry had his suspicions that he wasn’t actually frustrated. “We found so much, I had to grab another piece of parchment!”

“Then why didn’t you call us?!” Ron once again glared at the Slytherin.

“Potter was here! And if you were here, I would have probably needed to give you another black eye.”

Harry shook his head wordlessly. He walked around the back of the house, seeing a very old looking tree with what seemed to be remnants of a small tree house. Whoever had lived here, seemed to have enjoyed living here. He turned towards the home and found the backdoor, once again not having boards up.

Frowning, Harry stared at it, hearing the loud discussions from Ron and Nott in the distance. Something was weird with this thing. Ron had just come from here. If he had found a door that hadn’t any boards up, he would have called them immediately, right?

Slowly, Harry walked up to the door and looked through the glass. He saw the same room, though from a different angle. He could see through the hallway right to the front door, where magic seemed to come through, though it was still locked. A grand piano, with as must dust on it as the table, stood to his right and under the window, he had looked through earlier was a small pillow, placed there as if the people living there had an animal and wanted give it a little bit of comfort. On the shelves in the living room were old pictures of places around the world, books in all sizes and a rose incased in glass – as if Belle and the Beast had lived here after their adventure in the king’s castle. At the wall to his left, the two wizards on the boat were once again waving at him. They seemed to tell him to come inside.

Harry tilted his head a little and decided to not chance it in case it was a trap and he walked to the front again, where Malfoy just swore and sat down on the wooden floor.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked.

The Slytherin sighed. “I wish. Actually, yes I am, but this house is annoying me. How come it’s so well secured? I mean, I’ve once seen something so well secured, when my mother incanted her diary with DNA, when I tried to read it.”

Harry laughed. “You tried to read your mothers diary?! Malfoy, how could you?”

“Don’t look at me like that, Potter! I was nine and a very stupid child!” Malfoy held up his hands, while Harry barely kept it together.

He brushed a tear out of his face and motioned to the two wizards coming around the corner. “Nott found a huge hole in the side of the house, but it’s magically secured. He tried to put his arm through which didn’t work, but objects can get through. It seemed to be the office.”

“Nice!” Malfoy got up and walked towards the two still arguing wizards. Nott had apparently promised Ron to give him another huge black eye to match his look of being depressed, which Ron did not appreciate whatsoever. Malfoy laughed and shook his head. “Darlings, calm down. Theo, do you have the list of what’s inside?”

Harry watched it closely. He hadn't really realized how much Malfoy had changed. While he still seemed to be annoyed by him, he was much calmer and even joked with him. Harry was sure that he wasn't the only one who had received mind healing therapy during their last year. Malfoy couldn't be so calm without it. While Nott gave his friend the list and Ron once again argued over how easy it seemed to Nott and Malfoy to get along while he hadn’t gotten any information from the dark haired Slytherin, Harry shook his head. He turned to the door and watched the door closely.

Once again taking out his wand, he checked if there was anything harmful around the house and if the door was magically sealed. Nothing came up and Harry stood there frowning at the door.

Nott, Malfoy and Ron had tried to open the door for the better part of the morning. In fact, the sun was already really high; it could be early in the afternoon. What made him think he could actually open this place?

Placing his wand back into his arm holster, he slowly walked towards the front door and placed his hand on the door handle. The cold metallic material seemed to warm up at his touch and almost melt into his skin, though not because it was hot – mostly because it seemed to absorb his hand structure.

With a loud click, the door opened and all discussions died down instantly.

Harry turned around to look at his three Auror partners, all in shock. “I think I solved it” Harry commented smirking, even though he had no idea what just happened.

“What?” Ron asked utterly confused. Though he clearly saw the slightly opened door.

“I did it. We’re in!” Harry laughed.

Malfoy turned around and walked up the two steps, peeking inside. “That’s impossible. How did you manage?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think I did anything different than from what you did. It just worked…” He turned to his Auror partners, raising his eyebrows. “Should we see what’s inside?”

Nott agreed and grabbed his bag. “Let’s see what’s inside.”


	2. The Scarlet Staircase

As soon as Harry entered, second behind Nott, his eyes darted over the living room, the place he had seen already. Malfoy and Ron entered behind him and he could hear them walking inside a little more careful.

The sun shone into the house as if there weren’t any boards up and the soft yellow light, which could only ever be produced during the Golden Hour made this house almost look innocent and lived in. There was the living room straight through the hallway. On Harry’s left was a small but incredibly sweet kitchen. Straight, but a little to his right was a staircase leading to the upper floor. Harry saw a few thousand portraits on the wall though most of them were empty and deserted. Even the name tags underneath all of them were long gone.

“We’ll check the upper floors, you do the things down here” Nott said and grabbed Ron. Harry’s friend widened his eyes and was just about to struggle against the Slytherin, when he already pulled him up the stairs.

“Harry! Help!”

Laughing, Harry shook his head. “You’re with another Auror, Ron. Calm down.” He smirked and shook his head. “Nott doesn’t play around.”

Malfoy grinned as if he knew something else and shrugged his shoulders. “He rarely does. So, let’s gather as much information as we can.” He winked at him and Harry rolled his eyes. 

Passing the stairway, Harry looked up and listened shortly for his best friend’s voice, though there was nothing to be heard. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked into the dark to his right. It seemed as if the hole on the wall in one of the rooms there didn’t supply any light. Once again, he made the floating orb appear and light his way. On the walls were frames that seemed burned and destroyed. Kneeling down, Harry found a piece of old photography that seemed to have been ripped into pieces. A man, looking very happy, was on it.

Harry frowned. A feeling of incredible sadness washed over him and he carefully placed it back onto the floor and walked forward again. The old rug was barely holding it together and when he stepped onto it, it just gave away and lay down flat.

The orb illuminated two rooms, one was the room with a hole in its side and the other room seemed to be a museum. There were very old magical artifacts incased in glass and a very old looking wand which seemed about to break apart lay on a table.

“This house is even creepier from the inside” Malfoy commented and Harry jerked. He hadn’t even heard him coming closer.

Nodding, Harry tried to play off his reaction and motioned to a shelf. When he turned around, he noticed Malfoy’s careful and evaluating gaze on him, though he quickly turned to the shelf Harry had been pointing at. For some reason, he was sure that the Slytherin had noticed him wincing by his sudden voice.

“Did you find anything? I only found artifacts and old books” Harry offered and sighed. The air was heavy with stagnant air and the dust of centuries past.

Malfoy shook his head. “No, but it definitely was a magical home. In the living room, there’s a moving picture, though I haven’t found anyone on it. But the ship moves in the waves.”

Nobody was on board? Harry frowned. He had seen two people on there the two times he had looked at it. And they seemingly had wanted him to come inside. Saying nothing, he left the library and artifacts room and walked into the office, where the mess was even more visible. The hole in the wall was now magically sealed against any light coming from outside. Maybe it was made so that nobody could follow through? Whatever it was, the darkness in this room was almost overwhelming.

The Slytherin followed Harry and widened his eyes at the huge gaping hole towards the lake (even though you couldn’t see outside) and the mess everywhere. Harry’s lighting orb flickered and perished. In the darkness that ensued, Harry felt his throat close and panic rising. He felt for his wand to quickly create another light, when another light spell illuminated the room.

Exhaling loudly, Harry bent down and placed his hands on his knees, just to keep himself from rolling into a ball and hiding somewhere he felt safe. His eyes darted over all corners just to make sure that nothing had changed. Malfoy seemed to have noticed it, as he walked closer and lightly placed his hand on his back.

“Are you good?” Malfoy asked and Harry simply nodded. He hoped that he didn’t look too pale and that maybe Malfoy would think it was just because of the magical light. Or that maybe he hadn’t eaten well today and maybe his stomach was acting up.

Ever since they had been on the run, he had hated the dark nights. He couldn’t sleep in the dark, not when he thought he could see Nagini’s eyes everywhere. And what if the trappers were back and had surrounded him? He needed to stay awake, keep himself safe and stay alert at any time.

Shaking these thoughts, Harry entered the room, lighting his way by his own wand. Malfoy followed carefully, as if he still wanted to see that Harry was okay, and they looked at the mess that was left behind. Something seemed to grab Harry’s attention and he crouched down to grab a piece of parchment that didn’t look finished.

> Mine dearest Lion
> 
> I hast been privy that thou hast turned aroint from me. What didst I doth to deserve this, except love thou moe than I belike should'st hast? Thou decided to stand by the magical marriage contract and not by thy known. I wot thou still love me. Hence, I am writing thou this 'i hopes thou might reconsider. I wot it might only be 'i vain, alas, it is mine last hope. Prithee, allow us to meet one moe time - only once. Thou are

It ended with a huge line as if the paper had been torn away from the writer. Harry frowned. There was something else going on in this house. It seemed to have absorbed the pain coming from this letter.

“Why did it stop?” Malfoy asked behind Harry, which made him shiver slightly.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe it was why everything here is in a mess? The person writing this must have been in a sudden fight and had to flee or was taken away before they could finish this letter.”

Malfoy nodded, deep in thought. “Who do you think it was addressed to? Who’s Lion?”

Looking back at the parchment, Harry shrugged his shoulders. “No idea. But it seemed a long time ago. I don’t think I could write something like that.”

“At least we can confirm that they were wizards” Malfoy commented and pointed at the words ‘magical marriage contract’. “They must have been in love and had to hide it.”

Nodding, Harry followed the elegant hand writing. Even though the black ink was greyer than the original color and sometimes even looked half gone, it was still rather easy to read it. Well, except for the different language. And even the writing was much more formal than Harry had ever known; the love seemed to ooze out of this piece of parchment. Love and desperation were almost equal in there.

“Do you think we can use the re-construction spell?” Harry asked and looked up at Malfoy who narrowed his eyes.

“Unlikely. These spells don’t go back centuries. They do have limits.” He sighed and looked to the wall, as if he wished he could find out what happened here. “Maybe there’s another version of this spell I could find.”

Harry placed the parchment back onto the floor and walked out of the room, leaving Malfoy to think. It was still quiet upstairs, but maybe they had found something like that as well and were reading over the letters. Harry stopped at the door frame to the living room. He saw the picture at the wall and once again, two people were waving at him.

It clearly wasn’t a portrait, so how Malfoy could have not seen them was beyond Harry’s understanding. He carefully stepped into the sun-drenched living room. It seemed as if he was stepping through time as he suddenly found the room not in its dusty and forgotten state. The couch was snow white, the windows cleaned and the old piano seemed to have been played only moments ago. The table and the three chairs had lost all the dust and shone in a beautifully rich dark brown. There were paw prints of a dog on the floor and in the middle of the table stood a bowl full of fresh fruit. The soft white curtains billowed in the evening wind blowing in from the outside through an open window. The only thing missing was a steaming cup of tea to sell the image of people using this space right now. It looked as if the people who had been living here had just left an hour ago to get something from the city.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Harry startled and grabbed his wand firmer; he turned around with wide eyes just to meet Malfoy’s eyes who placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “It’s only me, Potter. We’ve checked this whole house and there was nobody else around. Just me.”

Steadying his breathing, Harry nodded and leaned at the door frame. “Why can’t you walk around like a giant? I would at least be able to hear you coming.”

Malfoy chuckled softly. “Well, sneaking around makes it much more easier to escape Lord Voldemort when he doesn’t even know you’re around the next corner. I kind of got used to that.”

“I get that” Harry nodded. His paranoia had also only acted up in the last year of their supposed Hogwarts school year. And for some reason he had been unable to shake his problems. He didn’t like sudden noises or people touching him without showing that they were there first.

The room seemed to brighten und calmed Harry down rather fast. He turned back to the Slytherin and looked at him questioningly. “What do you mean by ‘what’s going on’ though?”

The Slytherin stepped into the room with wide eyes, as if he had just realized what he had spoken about before. “Well, it looks so… lived in! But a few moments ago, when I was here, it looked dirty and decrepit. Did you use some magic to see what it looked like a few centuries ago?”

“I didn’t even know such a spell existed” Harry said and turned around again. “I thought the re-construction spell only works for actions. But it’s beautiful here.”

“Creepy more likely” Malfoy commented, though he headed to the piano almost immediately. He sat down tentatively and carefully placed his hands onto the keys. As he played an accord, the whole house seemed to breathe in, as if an invisible tension had broken. A soft melody was Malfoy’s reaction to that and the calm, beautiful music made Harry smile gently.

Suddenly, a loud bang behind Harry made him jump and he raced to a corner, pushing his back into it, so he could have a clear view of what was going on. Malfoy almost followed his lead, though he had his wand out and pointed it at the door, one hand laying on the piano as if he was stabilizing himself.

“Theo, that’s not funny!” he called out, as if he wanted to convince himself that Nott was standing in front of the door, laughing over a practical joke he had pulled.

However, nobody answered and Harry pulled himself together. He grabbed his wand tighter and snuck to the entrance of the living room. Peering into the hallway, he found it empty. Frowning, he turned to Malfoy. “He’s not here. No one is.”

The Slytherin shook his head. “So, the noise just came from… nowhere?”

Harry was just about to nod, when he turned around again and saw that there was a door they hadn’t seen yet. It was on the opposite side of the kitchen entrance, open. And it was the darkest black Harry had ever seen. “I think this thing leads to the cellar” Harry commented and motioned towards it.

“Great, so I think we also need to go down there.”

There was something like fright in his voice and Harry decided not to turn around and confirm it – they all seemed to have their own nightmares. Maybe for Malfoy it was cellars? He walked closer, carefully and hoping that nothing would jump out at him.

“Orbis Luminis” he whispered to his wand and it once again started glowing and an orb of pure light started floated down into the cellar. The stone walls were full of cracks and spider webs, blowing in the sudden air flow. Harry crouched down to watch his light orb following the stairs to the bottom. The bluish light illuminated the wooden stairs down and the shadows of the spider webs and dust particles painted nightmarish monsters at the wall.

While the orb floated down, Harry cast another spell, checking for harmful magic. And once again, nothing like that came up. Malfoy stepped behind him and Harry felt a sudden calming presence behind him. It seemed as if he had actually tried to take loud steps just so he wouldn’t scare Harry. He had smile over that.

“Guess we’ll have to go down?” the blond wizard asked with a hoarse voice.

Harry looked up and smiled weakly. “Honestly Malfoy, I can go down by myself, you don’t need to do that.”

Shaking his head, the Slytherin glared at the darkness. “It’s not that.” He walked past Harry, creating the light spell himself. Frowning, Harry followed his example and they walked down the creaking stairs.

At the bottom was a nicely sized room with two doors to other rooms. On the floor lay broken cauldrons and dust that seemed to have once been a plant. Some green stuff had even gotten roots into the dry earth and was growing there. Malfoy stood by it and cast a spell on it to see whether or not is was poisonous. An empty picture frame stood on the table next to a moldy potion that hadn’t been finished in time.

Harry opened a wardrobe and found a few dozen potions in a rather good state. He took a file out and inspected it. The ink on the bottle was unreadable and the green liquid didn’t help him in identifying the potion neither. He carefully placed it back and looked at the door next to the stairs.

Opening it softly, Harry had his wand ready, just in case. However, nothing but old magic books, a few very old looking magical artifacts incased in glass stood there. The room looked very clean and with all the magical things inside glass, they all seemed to be very secure.

Harry felt Malfoy walk closer and he quickly stood behind him. “Everything here is giving me a weird vibe” the Slytherin commented and walked inside where he carefully brushed some dust off a glass case in which a magical quill seemed to be dancing around.

It was a little weird, yes, Harry had to admit it. However, again: It seemed so familiar. Suddenly, Malfoy grabbed his attention. He walked into the corner of the room, seemingly fascinated by something. Harry’s gaze followed and he found a scarlet staircase leading upwards. That was weird – he definitely hadn’t seen the staircase on the floor above.

Before he could have said something, Malfoy was already climbing up. Harry followed quickly and after a few rounds on this spiral staircase, they ended up on what seemed like the top of the house.

There, the light seemed to come from above and illuminated a tiny hide-out with a small, golden chest on one side and nothing else. Malfoy sat down next to the chest and Harry stayed on the stairs, looking at what the Slytherin was doing.

He didn’t even have to use magic as the box opened with a small sound. Inside, Harry saw a few hundred pieces of parchment. Malfoy took out one and held it into the light where Harry could read it as well.

> Mine dear Lion
> 
> Winter hath been so long without thou hither. I wot thou shall be back by spring, alas, it seems so far aroint. For now, all I doth is write thou one letter after the other. I hope thou receive 'em well, I haven't gotten any answers for a few weeks and I worry. Thou wot me, I aye worry. Father hath started to bid me to choose a wench to marry. I only until 'i mine future. Do not say to me that 'tis forbidden, I am aknown of it. I shall wait for summer to arrive - and for thou to discover me thy love. 
> 
> Thy Rose

“Love letters?” Harry asked and frowned. “They’re very well hidden.”

Malfoy frowned and shook his head. “They’re not normal love letters, Potter. If I remember correctly, ‘wench’ is an old word for woman.”

“So, Rose was gay?” Harry asked and looked up at Draco. That didn’t seem like the right answer and Malfoy carefully placed the parchment on the floor again.

He looked up at Harry and shook his head. “Unlikely. Until a few decades ago, the Wizarding World was rather homophobic. There are incidences of wizards being thrown into Azkaban and other harsh punishments for their sexualities. I don’t think that this father would have allowed his daughter to be openly gay.”

Harry rubbed his forehead. “So, what are you saying? Rose was… a man?”

The Slytherin nodded. “I think this is a relationship between two men and they’re using cover names in case someone catches them. Using a woman’s name is rather smart in this situation, actually.” He dug into the small chest and pulled out one of the first parchments.

> Dear Lion
> 
> Thou looked so of wax today. I almost would hast walked over and took thou aroint, were it not for thy cousin, this base woman, whom took all thy attention. I would this could hast been me, dancing with thou 'i the middle of room, being stared at by everyone. I canst not wait for full moon to arrive and to finally until again by the lake. The remembrance of thy sweet kisses still haunts mine every dream. 
> 
> Thy Rose

“Do you think they used to meet here?” Harry asked as he read the part about the lake. It was such a nice letter and maybe this really was their base of being themselves.

Malfoy nodded. “That would make sense. We’re so far away from society that they could have probably been themselves here.”

Harry nodded softly. He remembered the hole in the wall and thought what horror this person had to go through. Maybe, they were indeed found by some homophobic person and they had to fight for their life in there.

Malfoy pulled another letter out. This one had a different handwriting, probably coming from this Lion guy.

> Mine most beautiful Flower, mine minion Rose
> 
> I miss thou so much - the house is so quiet without thou. The days canst not end quick enough for me and I dream of thou 'i mine arms. I sit under the willow trees, looking up at the birds, flying free, being themselves. I would this could be us. Flying aroint from our homes. Alas, it canst not be - not now. Thou are still on mine mind, mine stunning Flower. I shall hast to wait with all mine love till we meet again. Prithee join back at Christmas, mine issue doesn't hast any suspicions for now. Father and Mother are out most of the day and we could be together again. 
> 
> Thy waiting Lion

Harry sighed. “I can't help but think something bad happened to them.”

Malfoy nodded. “They seemed to be so in love. But I agree; something dark is hovering over their happiness.”

“Do you think we can find out who they were?”

“Doubtful” Malfoy shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe the Ministry has records, but these two had to be extremely sneaky with their relationship, so I don’t believe that there’s any proof.” He sighed. “Let’s finish examining everything and maybe we can look at the records tomorrow.”

Agreeing, Harry climbed down the stairs and they found themselves at the bottom of the stairs sooner than they would have thought. Malfoy had the chest of love letters under his arm, as if he wanted to figure out who they were as much as Harry did. They passed through the artifacts room and once they were in the main room, Malfoy pointed at the other door.

“Have you checked this one already?”

“No. You found the stairs and I decided to follow you there.”

Malfoy opened the door carefully and illuminated… nothing. There was no chair, no table, no lamp inside. Just cold and dark emptiness. The Slytherin opened the door even wider, but there really was nothing inside.

“What fun” Harry commented and shook his head. His eyes suddenly fell onto a parchment lying next to Malfoy. He had taken a few steps inside the room and didn't seem to have noticed the paper. “Did you lose a letter?”

While Malfoy turned to look at him, Harry walked into the creepy room, picked it up and held it into the light of his wand. The Slytherin walked over to look at it.

> Mine dearest Flower
> 
> They hath told me that it is impossible to meet thou right now as thou are 'i preparations for a wedding. Thy weeding. 
> 
> I won't receive this to be true. I wot they't understand our love. 'tis a forbidden love after all. And yet, I wot thou would hast told me if thou were to be wed. 
> 
> Please answer mine letters as I am losing hope thou are 'i fact still alive. I still love thou with all of mine heart and while I write these lines, it burns and shatters with the thought - the possibility - of not being yours for the end of time. 
> 
> I plead thee. Answer me. Let mine heart heal with thy love. 
> 
> Thy calm Lion

Harry stared at it, unable to comment on this. The hopelessness, the devastation inside this letter was so huge that he had no idea what to say. And it looked as if Malfoy was on the same boat. He shook his head, wordlessly, and opened the chest to put it inside with all the other letters.

They quietly walked up the stairs and found themselves back on the ground. Harry looked into the living room, which seemed to have changed back into the sad, dusty state it had been in before. This house seemed to have a mind of its own.

Just as quietly as they had walked up the stairs before, they did that again and landed on the floor, where Ron and Nott should have looked around. Harry couldn’t find any signs of life and he turned to look at Malfoy, frowning.

The Slytherin shrugged his shoulders and walked to the left, where two doors went into different rooms. Harry saw one of them open and decided to follow the blond man.

“What?!” Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw! Malfoy winced slightly and Harry bit his lips, knowing full well that his sudden surprised call had probably scared the Slytherin.

There, on an old arm chair sat Nott with Ron on his lap, _kissing_. Ron had his arms around Nott’s neck and the Slytherin had his hands under Ron’s shirt. They seemed to have used all the time for only one thing… 

Ron turned to the door, flushed expression, and grinned. “Hey guys.”

“Did you at least check all the rooms up here, Theo?” Malfoy asked and grinned as he turned back to Harry, rolling his eyes. He clearly wasn’t expecting an answer.

“I did!” Nott called after him, though Malfoy already dragged Harry out of the room.

He turned around to his friend and shook his head. “It’s always me who has to do the work, huh?” he grinned at Harry. “Come on, Potter. Let’s do our job, while these two love-birds do whatever.”

Harry shook his head, though more out of surprise than anything else. “I had no idea!”

Malfoy snorted and opened another door on the opposite end of the hallway, far away from the other Aurors. “Potter, it’s not surprising you had no idea. They tried to get around their feelings by hating each other.” He smirked. “We all know that can’t last long.”

“What do you mean by that?” Harry shook his head and the Slytherin rolled his eyes, as if it was Harry who was the idiot here… Maybe he actually was?

“Forget it. Check the room, Potter. Or do I need to show you how to do your job as well?”

Rolling his eyes, Harry looked at the other rooms, though there seemed nothing suspicious inside. Old looking furniture and dust everywhere. And after another fifteen minutes, they had looked at the whole house. Malfoy knocked at the door where the two other Aurors still sat and enjoyed each other’s company.

“We’re leaving, darlings.”

Nott rolled his eyes and Ron got up, still clearly flustered. Harry had no idea what to say to that and just stayed back while the two Slytherins walked down the stairs.

“Are you good?” Ron asked, his red face almost matching the red hair.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. How did this happen?!”

Ron blushed. “I… He… it just happened. He kissed me and… that’s that. I don’t know. It’s weird.”

Over this rather clumsy explanation, Harry could only laugh and he shook his head, the tension falling off of him. “Next time, you should warn me, Ron. I had no idea you liked him!”

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry’s best friend looked at the floor, still clearly flustered. “As I’ve said, it just happened. And I had nothing against it. We just…”

“I don’t need the details, Ron” Harry smirked and they finally met up with the Slytherins again. They stood by the door and Harry almost walked into them. However, they looked a little confused and turned back to him.

“Potter, what did you do to open the door?” Nott asked and rubbed the back of his neck.

Harry frowned. “I pressed the handle. It just opened.”

Malfoy pointed at it. “Do it again.”

“Why?” Harry asked. He still stepped towards it and touched the metal. It didn’t do anything special, just stayed exactly the same as before.

Nott raised his eyebrows. “Anything?”

Pushing down the handle, the door didn’t budge at all. Harry looked up and shook his head. “Nothing. It doesn’t open. We’re locked inside.”


End file.
